Dear Aspirant,

It was the traditional Indian education system that believed in maintaining an equilibrium. Education was not confined to texts, rather it focused on complete development and self- actualization. India, has always had a rich history of education, creativity and innovation. It can be disheartening to see something so rich in tradition being lost in the legacy of post-colonialism.

The concept of residential learning and surrendering to a mentor, “The Gurukul system” ,was that of Indian origin. There was no commercialization of education. The school fees that now serve to be a threatening pressure for many was then replaced by “Guru dakshina”, which was a service to the Guru after the completion of education. In contrast with these ideas, the contemporary Education system is focused on two ideas. These can be narrowed down to creating a workforce to adapt the need of industrialization and enrich the relation between self and identity. These approaches just create tension and dilemma in a learners mind which was absent in our Vedic period.

We can trace the shift in the style of Education to Thomas Macaulay's “Minutes of Education”, which advocated replacing Arabic and Sanskrit schools with English ones. Macaulay hoped that this system would enlighten the assumed ignorant people of the subcontinent and create a class of Anglicized clerks to work for Britain's growing empire. It is ironic that the civilising mission that wanted to enlighten the natives, left the country with a 13% literate population. After 1947, the whole structure of the education system started confining people to specific opportunities. There was no universalization of opportunities. The Gurukul system which was very strong on its base, was being perceived as an extension of the caste-system and a method to discriminate. Our ancient scriptures and early knowledge was being misintepretated and was being adjusted to the profit of a capitalistic society.

Hope this helps ! All the best.